Caught Stealing.

Review #2418: Caught Stealing.

Cast: 

Austin Butler (Henry "Hank" Thompson), Regina King (Det. Elise Roman), Zoë Kravitz (Yvonne), Matt Smith (Russ), Liev Schreiber (Lipa Drucker), Vincent D'Onofrio (Shmully Drucker), Benito A Martínez Ocasio (Colorado), Griffin Dunne (Paul), Carol Kane (Bubbe), Yuri Kolokolnikov (Aleksei), and Nikita Kukushkin (Pavel) Directed by Darren Aronofsky (#1112 - Pi, #1580 - mother!)

Review: 

Sure, this is the new film from director Darren Aronofsky, but I'll be honest, the reason I picked the movie is that it seemed like the kind of movie that would slip through the cracks if I didn't act quickly. Honestly, I think I saw exactly one trailer for the movie, but I'm sure this was going to be something fitting of the guy who did Pi (1998) rather than say, the guy who did mother! (2017). So, what is the movie? Well, it is based on the 2004 novel of the same name (the first of three books involving the character, as followed by Six Bad Things and A Dangerous Man) by Charlie Huston, who wrote the screenplay for this film, which is the ninth feature film by Aronofsky. You might think is a caper with a few bits of humor. Well...it is technically a funny movie, but you sure will get some whiplash by the stuff that happens with this movie (as set in 1998, specifically late September in New York) which features a handful of characters that get killed for 107 minutes (horror movies wish they had that kind of body count). Omen or not, I saw the movie on a Thursday night to about three other people (my kind of audience, at least when it comes to ill-timed laughs). 

I did enjoy the movie, albeit one that sure takes its time to really get going in a tightly wound thriller about one man who is having an increasingly bad week, as one does when engulfed in trying to think quick for a myriad of tough decisions beyond "oh, I have a cat to take care of". But really, it is a funny movie even with such squeamish moments, mostly because I did get a kick out of the ways one is wriggled in and out of chaos: some may call it whiplash, but I lied, it really is just mayhem and I think some people prefer to shudder at it rather than admit that there was some sort of perverse enjoyment to be had (sure, there is some violence that might be too much, but, well, too bad). It does help to have a pretty neat lead behind it all with Butler, who maneuvers vulnerability (past and current) and a general sense of charm that we get behind pretty quickly in the expanding-and-shrinking scenario that comes with people and surprises at every corner. He has a certain natural attitude that just clicks to what we are seeing without seeming like just being an impersonation of say, Steve McQueen. His demons are ones that we understand when it goes from a path of realization in, well, not turning away from their problems. The cast around him is fairly quirky in their machinations of mayhem (with a cat involved, naturally), whether that involves the coarse King or the delightful rat in the coming-and-going Smith or the late favorite in friendly neighborhood killer pair in Schreiber and D'Onofrio. There are plenty of little sequences to highlight within the ever-growing pulse of terror of someone who isn't exactly gripped in calm/normal reality to begin with, and I think the ending is a pretty apt one in laying out that being on the beach may not be all it looks to be in "peace". It basically is a movie close to the sights and sounds you might have found in old fashioned chase movies, one that might be better with multiple rewatches down the road, suffice to say. I just wish I liked it more, mostly because there is a fewling this could have gone even murkier, but I guess people would have gotten up in arms more (to say nothing of its one big shock). As a whole, if you want a slap-bang film that is reasonably engaged with its late 1990s setting, you might find something worth getting into here. It has enough of a rumble in its execution to make it probably worth a watch, squeamish or not.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night is taking a few days off, just for the record.

Foolishly, I forgot to detail my shortlist of stuff I forgot to review for August, so here it was: Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, 1941, Don Q, Son of Zorro / Mask of Zorro / Zorro, The Gay Blade, But I'm a Cheerleader, City Heat, The Black Swan.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Review #1251: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Cast: 
Leonardo DiCaprio (Rick Dalton), Brad Pitt (Cliff Booth), Margot Robbie (Sharon Tate), Emile Hirsch (Jay Sebring), Margaret Qualley (Pussycat), Timothy Olyphant (James Stacy), Julia Butters (Trudi Fraser), Austin Butler (Charles "Tex" Watson), Dakota Fanning (Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme), Bruce Dern (George Spahn), Mike Moh (Bruce Lee), Luke Perry (Wayne Maunder), Damian Lewis (Steve McQueen), Al Pacino (Marvin Schwarz), Brenda Vaccaro (Mary Alice Schwarz), Kurt Russell (Randy), Zoë Bell (Janet), and Lorenza Izzo (Francesca Cappucci) Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino (#638 - Kill Bill: Volume 1, #639 - Kill Bill: Volume 2, #1180 - Reservoir Dogs, and #1218 - Pulp Fiction)

Review: 
It is not a surprise to find myself watching a love letter to a time long since past in terms of movies, particularly since it is a Tarantino movie but also because of the intrigue of seeing such an interesting time like 1969 come to life. It attempts to talk a grand tale of fact and fiction with a cavalcade of actors and images that surely make for an ambitious piece of entertainment. The final result is something that will surely work wonders in terms of design and energy, although it holds itself together with a paste that may very well be described as frantic excess. Tarantino clearly wanted to make a great sprawling tale much in the same vein of other films of the 1960s that has its cake and eats plenty of it in a 161 minute run-time that his fans will probably clamor for (while wondering was left on the cutting floor) while others will probably wonder why it wanders for so long on certain aspects while leaving other parts less covered, with the ending being one of those moments ripe for discussion for quite a while, alongside other moments.

In a sea of actors spread out from substantial to one-scene wonder, DiCaprio and Pitt are game to lead the way in delivering plenty of enthusiasm and charm in respective ways that carry the film steady. DiCaprio in particular shines as a falling star pastiche, where one can see his fading attempts at what was and what could be in the changing of the time. Pitt joins that same kind of road with vigor that rolls right along when all is said and done. Robbie, the last of the main trio, doesn't have as much to say but does make a key impression of warmth and charm whenever we see her, such as when she sees herself in The Wrecking Crew in a theater while enjoying what she sees of her fictional comic relief lead. She plays her time for a part that doesn't fall under complete biopic structure - which can either prove fine or a bit disappointing. Others make their mark, some more than others. Qualley and Butters each make their mark count, conveying plenty of conviction in where they stand in the moment, the former being a marker of descent into the other side of 1969 Hollywood and the latter a young (but aspiring) talent firmly in the system in a changing time. Butler, Fanning and Dern also contribute for a scene with wiry impact, and it is sure is nice to see Russell make his mark from time to time. The actors with one-shot moments in the TV scenes (Olyphant and Perry) do fairly well with representing the time in helping making a show as forgotten as Lancer come to life again. Moh and Lewis are fine if not too particularly important in the grand scheme.

Once it garners itself to setting a conclusion (complete with narration that certainly feels a bit wry when coming from Russell), the film has already garnered enough enticement that you don't really want it to ever come crashing down (to say nothing of the request from Tarantino to avoid spoiling the film before release, which is a bit strange to say in a quasi fact/fiction film). It fights against the dawn of a different kind of Hollywood and the sign of the times itself that surely can resonate with those who seek the resonance that was a decade such as the 1960s without devolving too much into an old man argument. It aspires to have its cake and eat it too, doing plenty of both with no shame. It is a film that certainly will have fans who will find joy with its decisions (such as its visual and musical choices), but it isn't impossible to find aspects that test the grounds of patience if not in the mood for all the roads wanting to be covered by Tarantino. I enjoyed a good chunk of what I saw, and it could either teeter at the high or low end of his directorial efforts when all is said and done, which is a pretty good testament to his craft. After one views a tale like this, they will likely leave their theater with acceptance with what they saw - the times of big stars and big sights like drive-in theaters and the like may not resonate as much as they did before, but there sure is still something to enjoy then as in now when it comes to the movies and showmanship. It is a bittersweet tribute that succeeds more often than not with plenty of charm and entertainment value to go around that surely will endure just as much as the people that came from it did.
Any movie where a bunch of hippies are beaten to hell does tend to win praise from me, too.
Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.